Ionizing Radiation Disinfestation Treatments against Pest Insects

Abstract

Pesticides are often considered a suitable solution for controlling pests. However, the use of chemicals is very costly, and their residues have always the potential to pollute soil, air, and ground water and also pose significant risks to the natural ecosystems and nontarget organisms. Considering all these, irradiation could offer substantial and charming option for eliminating the export commodity fumigation uses for the undesirable effects of chemicals. Gamma rays, high-energy electrons, and X-rays are among the ionizing radiation sources utilized practically in sterile insect releasing programs using “self-contained” and “non-self-contained or panoramic” irradiators. When applying radiation sources, dosimetry should be adjusted to ensure quarantine security for large groups of insect pests. Because of growing concerns related to health problems and environmental pollutions, chemical sanitizing treatments are faced with a lot of regulatory restrictions, so irradiation reveals best choice for this purpose. The sterile insect technique (SIT) may have indispensable consideration for integrated pest management (IPM) of many important insect pests, including agricultural, veterinary, and medicinal importance. On the other hand, to overcome the obstacles of SIT treatments, genetic engineering techniques were supposed to ease the devel‐ opment of transgenic insects for sustainable tactics to control pest populations. Thus, genetic means should be an integral part of SIT treatments in controlling important pest populations.